System and method for transmission and reception of traffic in optical light-trails

ABSTRACT

An optical network is provided that carries optical traffic in multiplexed wavelengths between a number of nodes. The network includes at least one light-trail associated with one of the wavelengths and established between a subset of the nodes in the network. The network also includes an out-of-band control channel that is associated with a different wavelength than the light-trail. The control channel is used to communicate control messages to establish the light-trail and to allocate use of the light-trail by the subset of nodes. Each of the subset of nodes comprises a burstponder operable to receive data traffic from one or more client devices of the associated node to be communicated over the light-trail and to buffer the received data traffic and assemble the data traffic into an optical payload. The burstponder is also operable to transmit the optical payload over the light-trail as optical traffic using a burst mode transmitter during a time period in which the associated node is allocated use of the light-trail.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates generally to optical networks and, moreparticularly, to a system and method for transmission and reception oftraffic in light-trails in an optical communication network.

BACKGROUND

Telecommunication systems, cable television systems, and datacommunication networks use optical networks to rapidly convey largeamounts of information between remote points. In an optical network,information is conveyed in the form of optical signals through opticalfibers. Optical fibers comprise thin strands of glass capable oftransmitting optical signals over long distances with very low loss ofsignal strength.

Recent years have seen an explosion in the use of telecommunicationservices. As the demand for telecommunication services continues togrow, optical networks are quickly becoming overburdened by theincreasing amount of information communicated over such networks. Theaddition of new networks or the expansion of existing networks mayhowever be too costly to be practical solutions to this problem. Thus,efficient use of network resources has become an important goal indeveloping and operating optical networks.

Optical networks often employ wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) ordense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) to increase transmissioncapacity. In WDM and DWDM networks, a number of optical channels arecarried in each fiber at disparate wavelengths. Network capacity isbased on the number of wavelengths, or channels, in each fiber and thebandwidth, or size of the channels. By using WDM add/drop equipment atnetwork nodes, the entire composite signal can be fully demultiplexedinto its constituent channels and switched (added/dropped or passedthrough). In such networks, traffic from one network node to anothernetwork node are often assigned to a particular wavelength on which thetraffic is communicated over the network. By assigning different trafficstreams to different wavelengths, interference between different trafficstreams is prevented. However, in certain situations, this createsinefficiency in the network. For example, if the traffic from a nodethat is assigned a particular wavelength does not typically use much ofthe bandwidth (capacity) associated with the wavelength, theninefficiencies are created.

SUMMARY

A system and method for transmission and reception of traffic in opticallight-trails in an optical communication network are provided. Accordingto one embodiment, an optical network is provided that carries opticaltraffic in multiplexed wavelengths between a number of nodes. Thenetwork includes at least one light-trail associated with one of thewavelengths and established between a subset of the nodes in thenetwork. The network also includes an out-of-band control channel thatis associated with a different wavelength than the light-trail. Thecontrol channel is used to communicate control messages to establish thelight-trail and to allocate use of the light-trail by the subset ofnodes. Each of the subset of nodes comprises a burstponder operable toreceive data traffic from one or more client devices of the associatednode to be communicated over the light-trail and to buffer the receiveddata traffic and assemble the data traffic into an optical payload. Theburstponder is also operable to transmit the optical payload over thelight-trail as optical traffic using a burst mode transmitter during atime period in which the associated node is allocated use of thelight-trail.

Technical advantages of certain embodiments of the present invention mayinclude efficient techniques for using transmission resources on opticalnetworks. More specifically, in particular embodiments of the presentinvention, nodes of an optical network are capable of establishing anoptical “light-trail” that includes one or more other nodes for thetransmission of optical traffic. Such a light-trail may be shared by thenodes included in the light-trail to transmit traffic to other nodesincluded in the light-trail. The use of such light-trails may result inmore efficient communication of information in the optical network sincea number of nodes can share the bandwidth provided by a wavelength atwhich the light-trail is established. Nodes using such light-trails mayinclude “burstponders” which convert bursty or time-interleaved opticaltraffic received from the light-trail to seamless and continuous datatraffic for delivery to client devices of the node and which convertdata traffic received from client devices to optical traffic fortransmission on the light-trail. Such a burstponder allows a node totime share a light-trail while creating an impression to client devicesof the node that the wavelength is available on a seamless andcontinuous basis.

It will be understood that the various embodiments of the presentinvention may include some, all, or none of the enumerated technicaladvantages. In addition other technical advantages of the presentinvention may be readily apparent to one skilled in the art from thefigures, description, and claims included herein.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an optical ring network in whichlight-trails may be implemented in accordance with one embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a particular embodiment of a nodethat may be utilized in an optical network implementing light-trails;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a particular embodiment of aburstponder that may be utilized in an optical network implementinglight-trails;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating an example optical payload formatthat may used by a burstponder in accordance with one embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIGS. 5A-5C illustrate example operation of nodes of an optical networkin establishing a light-trail; and

FIGS. 6A and 6B illustrate the use of time slots of a light-trail toshare the light-trail between the nodes included in the light-trail.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates an optical network 10 in accordance with oneembodiment of the present invention. Optical network 10 includes aplurality of nodes 14 coupled to an optical ring 20. During operation,nodes 14 transmit and receive traffic on optical ring 20 on one of aplurality of wavelengths. In particular, a light-trail, such aslight-trail 30 in FIG. 1, may be established over which nodes 14 maytransmit optical traffic to other nodes 14 located on that light-trail.Nodes included in a light-trail share the light-trail, as appropriate,to transmit information to other nodes included in the light-trail on awavelength associated with the light-trail. Thus, a light-trail is ageneralization of a light path (an optical wavelength circuit) such thatmultiple nodes along the path can take part in communication along thepath. Therefore, the use of these light-trails addresses theinefficiency discussed above associated with assigning a wavelength fortraffic communicated from a single node to another node. In addition,light-trail communications allow optical multicasting and dynamicprovisioning.

Nodes 14 that allow light-trail communication have specificcharacteristics that enable the nodes 14 to implement light-trails. Forexample, these characteristics include a drop and continue function(where traffic received by an element of the node is both dropped andforwarded, so as to allow the traffic to continue along thelight-trail), passive adding of traffic by the node (“passive” in thiscontext means the adding of traffic without using optical switches thatuse power, electricity, and/or moving parts), and the use of anout-of-band control channel (as opposed to control signals that arein-band with the data being communicated on the network 10). Asdescribed below, FIG. 2 illustrates a particular embodiment of a node 14including these characteristics.

Referring again to FIG. 1, although a single light-trail 30 isillustrated, nodes 14 may establish light-trails on one or morewavelengths utilized by optical network 10 and multiple non-overlappinglight-trails may exist at a particular time on a particular wavelength.To prevent optical interference caused by multiple nodes 14 transmittingsimultaneously on a particular light-trail in optical network 10, nodes14 may utilize particular techniques for sharing the light-trail, asdescribed below. Therefore, there are two levels of “arbitration”associated with light-trails. The first level is the establishment andtermination of light-trails to meet particular demands, as well as the“dimensioning” of light-trails (growing or shrinking the trails to meetparticular demands). The second level of arbitration is the allocationof the use of the light-trail to nodes in the light-trail. Nodes may beallocated bandwidth according to defined rules or heuristics, predefinedbandwidth allocation algorithms, “round robin” techniques (as discussedbelow), on a dynamic basis, and/or using any other suitable techniques.

Although FIG. 1 illustrates a particular embodiment and configuration ofring network 10, mesh, linear, or other suitable types of opticalnetworks may be used in accordance with the present invention. In theillustrated embodiment, network 10 is an optical network in which anumber of optical channels are carried over a common transmission mediaat different wavelengths. For example, network 10 may be a wavelengthdivision multiplexed (WDM) network, a dense wavelength divisionmultiplexed (DWDM) network, or any other suitable multi-channel network.Network 10 may represent all or a portion of a short-haul metropolitannetwork, a long-haul intercity network, or any other suitable network orcombination of networks. Network 10 may include, as appropriate, asingle uni-directional fiber, a single bi-directional fiber, or aplurality of uni- or bi-directional fibers.

Optical ring 20, in the illustrated embodiment, comprises a pair ofuni-directional fibers, first fiber 16 and second fiber 18, transportingtraffic in a counterclockwise and clockwise direction, respectively.Optical ring 20 optically couples the plurality of nodes 14 a-14 f, andoptical traffic propagates between nodes 14 over optical ring 20. Asused herein, “traffic” means information transmitted, stored, or sortedin the network. Such traffic may comprise optical signals having atleast one characteristic modulated to encode audio, video, textual,real-time, non-real-time and/or other suitable data. Modulation may bebased on phase shift keying (PSK), intensity modulation (IM), and othersuitable methodologies. Additionally, the information carried by thistraffic may be structured in any suitable manner. Although thedescription below focuses on an embodiment of network 10 thatcommunicates traffic on optical ring 20 in the form of optical frames,network 10 may be configured to communicate traffic structured in theform of frames, as packets, or in any other appropriate manner.

Using established light-trails, nodes 14 facilitate communicationbetween a plurality of client devices (not shown) coupled to each node14 through a plurality of client ports. As described in greater detailbelow, each node 14 may receive traffic from client devices coupled tothat node 14 and add this traffic to optical ring 20 to the opticaltraffic propagating on optical ring 20. Each node 14 may also receivetraffic from optical ring 20 and drop traffic destined for clientdevices of that node 14, such as personal computers (PCs), telephones,fax machines, hard drives, web servers, and/or any other appropriatecommunication device. Although FIG. 1, illustrates one embodiment ofnetwork 10 that includes a particular number of nodes 14, network 10 mayinclude any appropriate number of nodes 14 configured in any appropriatemanner.

In operation, nodes 14 generate optical traffic at one or morewavelengths based on electrical signals received by nodes 14 from clientdevices coupled to nodes 14 and add this optical traffic to opticaltraffic propagating on optical ring 20. Nodes 14 also receive and droptraffic propagating on optical ring 20 that is destined for one or moreof its clients. For the purposes of this description, nodes 14 may“drop” traffic by transmitting a copy of the traffic to any appropriatecomponents that are a part of or coupled to the relevant node 14. As aresult, nodes 14 may drop traffic from optical ring 20 by transmittingthe traffic to these components while allowing the traffic to continueto downstream components on optical ring 20. Each node 14 drops andelectrically converts traffic received on particular wavelengths atwhich that node 14 is configured to receive traffic and either does notdrop or discards traffic transmitted at other wavelengths. Once trafficis dropped from the optical ring 20, nodes 14 may provideoptical-to-electrical conversion of the dropped traffic. Nodes 14 thenextract, based on addressing information in the traffic, portions ofthis traffic destined for client devices coupled to that node 14. Incertain embodiments, each node 14 includes, or has associated with it, aswitching element which may forward the traffic, or a portion thereof,to one or more of a plurality of client devices based on addressinginformation.

Since nodes 14 time-share a wavelength associated with a particularlight-trail, the data flow patterns through a light-trail dominantnetwork may be somewhat “bursty” in nature due to the interleaving ofdata streams from multiple nodes 14. However, client devices (typically,Layer-2 devices) associated with a node 14 expect that the optical layerwill provide uninterrupted communication to the devices. Therefore, tofacilitate an interface between the bursty optical layer (due to timesharing of the bandwidth of light-trails) and the continuous clientlayer, nodes 14 include a device called a burstponder. A burstponder isa device that allows a node 14 to time share a wavelength while creatingan impression to client device of the node 14 that the wavelength isavailable on a seamless and continuous basis. Such a burstponder isdescribed in further detail in conjunction with FIGS. 2 and 3.

Additionally, nodes 14 may be configured to establish light-trail 30 andtransmit or receive some or all optical traffic on light-trail 30.Light-trail 30 represents an optical path on a portion of fiberconnecting any two or more components in optical network 10. Light-trail30 is illustrated in FIG. 1 as a shaded portion of fiber 16. Oncelight-trail 30 is established, any of the nodes 14 connected tolight-trail 30 may transmit optical traffic on light-trail 30 to nodes14 located downstream from the transmitting node 14 in the directiontraffic is propagating along light-trail 30. A particular node 14 mayterminate or reconfigure light-trail 30 at any appropriate time.Additionally, as noted above, in particular embodiments, multiplelight-trails may be established in optical ring 20, with eachlight-trail associated with a particular wavelength. Furthermore,multiple, non-overlapping light-trails may be associated with a commonwavelength. The operation of a particular embodiment of optical network10 in establishing a light-trail is illustrated in FIGS. 5A-5C.

As mentioned above, to coordinate the establishment and sharing oflight-trails, optical network 10 supports an optical supervisory channel(OSC) or other out-of-band control channel on which control signals areexchanged between nodes 14 and/or other components of optical network10. Nodes 14 may exchange control messages on the OSC to initiate andterminate light-trails and to manage use of established light-trails. Ina particular embodiment, the OSC represents one or more wavelengths,among a plurality of wavelengths utilized by optical network 10, thatare dedicated to control signals. Alternatively, the OSC may represent aseparate fiber in optical ring 20 on which nodes 14 may exchange controlsignals. According to particular embodiments, control signals associatedwith a particular light-trail may be transmitted on the OSC in thedirection of traffic on that light-trail, in a direction opposite to thedirection of traffic on that light-trail, or in both directions on theOSC.

Use of light-trails may result in more efficient transmission of trafficbetween nodes 14. In particular embodiments, nodes 14 may be configuredto use light-trails to transmit all traffic and may establish additionallight-trails if the amount of traffic flowing on a particularlight-trail exceeds a particular threshold, or if a particular node 14is unable to transmit traffic (due to use of the light-trail by othernodes 14) that cannot be delayed. In general, however, nodes 14 may beconfigured to establish light-trails based on any appropriate criteria,factors, or considerations.

In particular embodiments of optical network 10, nodes 14 may share useof a light-trail through a “round robin” or “weighted round robin”system, as described below in FIGS. 6A and 6B. In other embodiments, aparticular node 14 is granted use of an existing light-trail to transmitoptical traffic to other nodes 14 based on a priority associated withthat node 14. Thus, when more than one node 14 is attempting to transmitoptical traffic on the same light-trail at the same time, an element ofoptical network 10 may determine which node 14 will be granted use ofthat light-trail based on a comparison of the priorities of thecompeting nodes 14. These techniques, or other suitable techniques forsharing a light-trail, may result in more efficient communication ofinformation as transmission by certain nodes 14 or the transmission ofcertain information may be given priority over other transmissions,allowing, for example, particular nodes 14 to satisfy minimum quality ofservice (QoS) requirements for their transmissions.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a particular embodiment of a node14 for use in implementing light-trails. As shown, node 14 includestransport elements 50 a and 50 b, distributing/combining elements 80 aand 80 b, a managing element 120, a drop element 130, an add element140, a burstponder 150, and a switching element 160. Transport elements50 add traffic to and drop traffic from fibers 16 and 18. Morespecifically, transport elements 50 may generate one or more copies ofoptical signals propagating on fibers 16 and 18 for communication ofparticular portions of the traffic carried in these optical signals todevices coupled to node 14. Additionally, transport elements 50 mayinclude components appropriate to add traffic generated by node 14 orreceived from client devices of node 14 to fibers 16 and 18. Forexample, in the illustrated embodiment, each transport element 50includes a coupler 60 a which splits traffic received by transportelements 50 into two copies and forwards one copy of the traffic to dropelement 130, while forwarding the other copy along the relevant fiber.Furthermore, each transport element 50 includes a coupler 60 b whichadds traffic received from add element 140 to traffic alreadypropagating on the associated fiber. Although two couplers 60 a and 60 bare illustrated in each transport element 50, particular embodiments mayinclude a single coupler that both adds and drops traffic. Such a singlecoupler may be used, as an example, in particular embodiments which donot include a wavelength blocking unit 54 (as is described below).

Each transport element 50 also includes, in the illustrated embodiment,a wavelength blocking unit (WBU) 54 configured to terminate particularwavelengths of traffic propagating on fibers 16 and 18. As a result,traffic that has already been received by its intended destination ordestinations may be terminated at a subsequent node 14. Furthermore, WBU54 may be used to isolate a light-trail, as described below. Althoughshown as a functional block in FIG. 2, WBU 54 may represent and/orinclude suitable components configured in any appropriate manner toprovide the functionality of dynamically blocking certain wavelengthsand passing other wavelengths. As one example, WBU 54 may represent awavelength-selective switch (WSS) operable to output any particularwavelength, or set of wavelengths, received at the input of WBU 54 onthe output of WBU 54.

As another example, WBU 54 may represent a structure that includes anoptical demultiplexer and an optical multiplexer connected by a seriesof switches. In such an embodiment, the demultiplexer may demultiplexthe signal into its constituent channels. The switches may then bedynamically configured to selectively terminate or forward each channelto the multiplexer based on control signals received by each switch. Thechannels that are forwarded by the switches are received by themultiplexer, multiplexed into a WDM optical signal, and forwarded todownstream elements.

As another example, WBU 54 may represent a collection of tunable filterstuned to allow only traffic on appropriate wavelengths to be forwardedon fibers 16 or 18. In such an embodiment, a coupler of WBU 54 mayreceive optical signals input to WBU 54 and split the optical signalsinto a plurality of copies, transmitting each of these copies to aparticular tunable filter. Each tunable filter may then selectively passtraffic propagating at a particular wavelength or within a particularrange of wavelengths and block traffic propagating at all otherwavelengths. Each tunable filter then forwards the passed trafficpropagating at the associated wavelength or wavelengths to an outputcoupler of WBU 54. The output coupler then combines the output of thevarious tunable filters to produce an output WDM optical signal andforwards the output optical signal to components downstream from WBU 54.

Transport elements 50 may also include appropriate components to allownode 14 to transmit and receive information pertaining to the status andoperation of fibers 16 and 18, other nodes, any light-trails establishedin network 10, or any other appropriate elements or functionality ofoptical network 10. In particular, each node 14 may include elements toallow node 14 to receive and transmit messages on an optical supervisorychannel (OSC). In the illustrated embodiment, each transport element 50includes an OSC ingress filter 66 a that processes an ingress opticalsignal from its respective fiber 16 or 18. Each OSC filter 66 a filtersthe OSC signal from the optical signal and forwards the OSC signal to arespective OSC receiver 112. Each OSC filter 66 a also forwards theremaining optical signal to other components of transport element 50.Each transport element 50 also includes an OSC egress filter 66 b thatadds an OSC signal from an associated OSC transmitter 116 to the opticalsignal propagating on the associated fiber 16 or 18 and forwards thecombined signal to elements located downstream on fiber 16 or 18. Theadded OSC signal may be locally-generated data or may be OSC datareceived by node 14 and passed through managing element 120.

Distributing/combining elements 80 may each comprise a drop signalsplitter 82 and an add signal combiner 84. Splitters 82 may eachcomprise a coupler connected to one optical fiber ingress lead and aplurality of optical fiber egress leads which serve as drop leads 86.Each drop lead 86 may be connected to a drop element 130 associated witha particular local port of node 14. Although the illustrated embodimentshows a splitter 82 coupled to one drop lead 86, splitter 82 may becoupled to any appropriate number of drop leads 86.

Splitter 82 may, in general, represent any appropriate component orcollection of components capable of splitting the optical signalreceived by splitter 82 into a plurality of copies each to be propagatedon a particular drop lead 86. In particular embodiments in which fourdrop leads 86 are implemented, splitters 82 may each specificallycomprise a 2×4 optical coupler, where one ingress lead is terminated,the other ingress lead is coupled to a coupler 60 via a fiber segment,and the four egress leads are used as drop leads 86.

Combiners 84 similarly may each comprise a coupler with multiple opticalfiber ingress leads, which serve as add leads 88, and one optical fiberegress lead. Each add lead 88 may be connected to an add element 140associated with a particular port of node 14. In particular embodimentsin which combiner 84 is coupled to four ingress leads, combiner 84 maycomprise a 2×4 optical coupler, where one egress lead is terminated, theother egress lead is coupled to a coupler via a fiber segment, and thefour ingress leads comprise add leads 88. As with splitter 82, thedescribed components of combiner 84 may be replaced by any suitablecomponent or collection of components for combining a plurality ofoptical signal into a single output signal. Although the illustratedembodiment shows a combiner 84 coupled to one add lead 88, combiner 84may be coupled to any appropriate number of add leads 88.

Drop elements 130 selectively couple ports of burstponder 150 to outputsof distributing/combining elements 80 through filters 100, which areeach capable of isolating traffic in a different wavelength from eachcopy of the optical signal created by splitter 82. As a result, dropelements 130 may output particular wavelengths of traffic from fibers 16and 18 to particular ports of burstponder 150. Add elements 140 alsocouple particular ports of burstponder 150 to combining/distributingelements 80. Drop element 130 and add element 140 may include,respectively, a drop switch 132 and an add switch 142, or other suitablecomponents, to selectively connect associated ports of burstponder 150to fiber 16 or 18. Alternatively, add switch 142 may be replaced by acoupler which can split a signal from the associated transmitter 104 andby a pair of shutters (one for each branch of the split signal) that cancontrol whether the signal is added to fiber 16, fiber 18, or bothfibers 16 and 18. As a result, drop element 130 and add element 140 maybe utilized to support protection switching for node 14. Alternatively,particular embodiments of drop element 130 and add element 140 may omitdrop switch 132 and add switch 142, respectively, and couple differentports of burstponder 150 to each fiber 16 and 18. Moreover, inparticular embodiments, node 14 may include multiple drop elements 130and/or add elements 140, each associated with a particular wavelengthsupported by optical network 10.

Burstponder 150 converts bursty or time-interleaved optical trafficreceived from drop elements 130 to seamless and continuous data trafficfor delivery to client devices of node 14 and converts data trafficreceived from client devices to optical traffic for transmission onfiber 16 or 18 in bursts when the node 14 has use of the light-trail. Asdescribed above, burstponder 150 allows node 14 to time share alight-trail while creating an impression to client devices of the node14 that the wavelength is available on a seamless and continuous basis.Burstponder 150 may include any appropriate number of receivers 102operable to receive optical signals and generate electrical signalsbased on these optical signals and transmitters 104 operable to receiveelectrical signals and to transmit optical signals based on theseelectrical signals. Depending on the configuration of node 14, each ofthese receivers 102 and transmitters 104 may be fixed or tunable. Eachof these receivers 102 and transmitters 104 may be a burst-mode receiveror transmitter. Such burst-mode receivers may have burst mode clock anddata recovery operation. As described below, switching element 160 mayrepresent any appropriate component or components for transmitting datatraffic output by burstponder 150 to appropriate client devices of node14 and for transmitting data traffic received from client devices ofnode 14 to burstponder 150. Although shown as part of node 14 in FIG. 2,switching element 160 may be physically separate from node 14.

Managing element 120 may comprise OSC receivers 112, OSC interfaces 114,OSC transmitters 116, and an element management system (EMS) 124. EachOSC receiver 112, OSC interface 114, and OSC transmitter 116 set formsan OSC unit for one of the fibers 16 or 18 in the node 14. The OSC unitsreceive and transmit OSC signals for the EMS 124. EMS 124 may becommunicably coupled to a network management system (NMS) 126. NMS 126may reside within node 14, in a different node, or external to all nodes14.

EMS 124 and/or NMS 126 may comprise logic encoded in media forperforming network and/or node monitoring, failure detection, protectionswitching and loop back or localized testing functionality of theoptical network 10. In a particular embodiment, EMS 124 and/or NMS 126generate, transmit, receive, and/or process control messages associatedwith the establishment, operation, and termination of light-trails. Anylogic included in EMS 124 or NMS 126 may comprise software encoded in adisk or other computer-readable medium, such as memory, and/orinstructions encoded in an application-specific integrated circuit(ASIC), field programmable gate array (FPGA), or other processor orhardware. It will be understood that functionality of EMS 124 and/or NMS126 may be performed by other components of the network and/or beotherwise distributed or centralized. For example, operation of NMS 126may be distributed to the EMS 124 of nodes 14, and the NMS 126 may thusbe omitted as a separate, discrete element. Similarly, the OSC units maycommunicate directly with NMS 126 and EMS 124 omitted.

EMS 124 monitors and/or controls elements within node 14. For example,EMS 124 may control operation of transmitters 104, receivers 102, andWBU 54 to facilitate the establishment and use of light-trails. In theillustrated embodiment, EMS 124 receives an OSC signal from each offiber 16 and 18 in an electrical format via an OSC receiver 112associated with that fiber (the OSC receiver 112 obtains the signal viaan OSC filter 66 a). This OSC signal may include one or more of multipletypes of control messages, as described above. EMS 124 may process thesignal, forward the signal and/or loop-back the signal. EMS 124 may beoperable to receive the electrical signal and resend the OSC signal viaOSC transmitter 116 and OSC filter 66 b to the next node on fiber 16 or18, adding, if appropriate, locally-generated control messages or othersuitable information to the OSC.

NMS 126 collects information from all nodes 14 in optical network 10 andis operable to process control messages transmitted by nodes 14 tomanage particular aspects of the use of light-trails. For example, in aparticular embodiment, NMS 126 may be operable to select a particularnode 14 for transmission on a light-trail when multiple nodes 14 requestuse of the light-trail. As noted above, NMS 126 may represent a portionor all of EMSs 124 of all nodes 14 in optical network 10. Moreover,although the description below describes particular embodiments ofoptical network 10 in which functionality is divided between NMS 126 andEMSs 124 in a particular manner, in alternative embodiments thedescribed functionality may be distributed between NMS 126 and EMSs 124in any appropriate manner. Additionally, although NMS 126 and EMS 124,as shown in FIG. 2, represent, at least in part, components locatedwithin node 14, some or all of NMS 126 and/or EMS 124 may be locatedexternal to nodes 14.

Although not shown in FIG. 2, node 14 may also include a memory operableto store code associated with EMS 124, NMS 126, and/or other componentsof optical network 10, information specifying a wavelength assignmentscheme utilized for protection traffic on optical network 10, and/or anyother suitable information used during operation of optical network 10.Memory may represent one or more memory devices that are located withinnode 14 or that are physically separate from node 14. Additionally,memory may be shared with other components of optical network 10including other nodes 14. Memory may represent computer disks, a harddisk memory, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), or anyother suitable storage media.

In operation, transport elements 50 receive traffic from fibers 16 and18. In the illustrated embodiment, traffic received from fibers 16 and18 includes an OSC signal, and transport elements 50 are operable to addand drop the OSC signal to and from fibers 16 and 18. More specifically,each OSC ingress filter 66 a processes an ingress optical signal fromits respective fiber 16 or 18. OSC ingress filter 66 a filters the OSCsignal from the optical signal and forwards the OSC signal to itsrespective OSC receiver 112. Each OSC ingress filter 66 a also forwardsthe remaining transport optical signal to the associated amplifier 64.Amplifier 64 amplifies the signal and forwards the signal to itsassociated coupler 60 a. In particular embodiments, amplifier 64 may beomitted, depending on the circumstances.

EMS 124 may process control messages transmitted by other nodes 14 orother components of optical network 10 and adjust operation of node 14in response. In particular, EMS 124 may reconfigure WBU 54, transmitters104, filters 100, receivers 102, and/or any other appropriate element ofnode 14 in response to control messages received by EMS 124. As oneexample, EMS 124 may, in response to receiving a setup message,configure a WBU 54 of node 14 to allow traffic propagating at aparticular wavelength to pass through WBU 54. As another example, EMS124 may, in response to receiving an intimation message from anothernode 14, tune a particular filter 100 and/or a particular receiver 102to allow node 14 to receive optical traffic on a particular wavelengthassociated with a light-trail.

Furthermore, EMS 124 may also generate control messages for transmissionto other nodes 14 or other components of optical network 10. Forexample, EMS 124 may generate electronic signals associated with setupmessages, intimation messages, request messages, and/or any otherappropriate type of control messages and communicate these electronicsignals to OSC transmitter 116 to transmit optical signals representingthe appropriate control message to the associated transport element 50.These control messages may then be added to the optical traffic on fiber16 or 18, as appropriate.

Meanwhile, coupler 60 a splits the signal from the amplifier 64 into twocopies: a through signal that is forwarded to WBU 54 and a drop signalthat is forwarded to distributing/combining element 80.Distributing/combining element 80 may then split the drop signal intoone or more copies and forward the copies of the drop signal to one ormore drop elements 130. In a particular embodiment, each drop element130 includes a drop switch 132 that allows drop element 130 toselectively couple a drop signal from either fiber 16 or fiber 18 to afilter 100 included in that drop element 130. Additionally, filter 100may be tuned to a particular wavelength. As a result, in such anembodiment, traffic propagating at a particular wavelength on theselected fiber is output to burstponder 150.

Burstponder 150 receives the output of a plurality of drop elements 130.A receiver 102 in burstponder 150 that is associated with each dropelement 130 converts the optical signal received from that drop element130 into data traffic. The data traffic generated by each receiver 102is then output to switching element 160. In particular embodiments ofnode 14, burstponder 150 may include buffers (not shown) and the outputof receivers 102 may be stored in one or more buffers to be transmittedto switching element 160 at an appropriate time.

Switching element 160 receives seamless and continuous data trafficoutput by burstponder 150 and switches this data traffic in anyappropriate manner to facilitate transmission of this data traffic to anappropriate client device of node 14. The data traffic received byswitching element 160 from burstponder 150 may include information inthe form of packets, frames, and/or datagrams, and/or informationstructured in any other appropriate form. For example, in a particularembodiment, switching element 160 may represent an L2 switch and mayreceive electrical signals from burstponder 150 in the form of packets.

Switching element 160 also receives data traffic from client devicescoupled to switching element 160 and switches this data traffic tocommunicate the data traffic to an appropriate port of burstponder 150.The data traffic received by switching element 160 from the clientdevices may include information in the form of packets, frames, and/ordatagrams, and/or information structured in any other appropriate form.As noted above, switching element 160 may represent an L2 switch and mayreceive data traffic from the client devices in the form of packets. Insuch an embodiment, the L2 switch may switch each packet, based on aheader included in that packet, to deliver the packet to a port of theL2 switch coupled to an appropriate port of burstponder 150.

Burstponder 150 receives data traffic from switching element 160 on oneor more ports of burstponder 150. Certain ports of burstponder 150 areconfigured to receive data traffic from switching element 160, and eachof these ports may pass the received data traffic to a particulartransmitter 104 in burstponder 150 associated with that port. Eachtransmitter 104 may then generate a burst of optical traffic from thedata traffic received from switching element 160 and transmit thatoptical traffic to a particular add element 140 associated with thattransmitter 104. In particular embodiments, EMS 124 may tunetransmitters 104 of burstponder 150, and transmitters 104 may generateoptical traffic at a particular wavelength determined by EMS 124. Inother embodiments, transmitters 104 transmit at a fixed wavelength.Additionally, burstponder 150 may include one or more buffers that storedata traffic from switching element 160 to be input to transmitter 104at an appropriate time (such as when the node is granted use of alight-trail). Such buffering is useful since a node 14 may not be ableto transmit traffic when it is received because another node 14 is usinga shared light-trail.

Optical traffic output by transmitters 104 of burstponder 150 is thenreceived by an appropriate add element 140 associated with thetransmitter 104 that generated the optical traffic. Each add element 140may include an add switch 142 capable of selectively coupling that addelement to a combiner 84 in a distributing/combining element 80associated with either fiber 16 or 18. As a result, optical trafficgenerated by transmitters 104 of burstponder 150 may be added to anappropriate fiber 16 or 18 based on the circumstances. For example,particular embodiments of node 14 may support protection switching andadd switch 142 may be reconfigured in response to the detection of afault on one fiber to transmit optical traffic on the other fiber. Theappropriate distributing/combining element 80 then forwards the opticaltraffic received from burstponder 150 to the coupler 60 b of theassociated fiber.

Returning to the operation of couplers 60 a, in addition to forwardingthe drop signal as described above, each coupler 60 a forwards thethrough signal to its respective WBU 54. WBUs 54 receive the opticalsignal and selectively terminate or forward channels of the throughsignal. In a particular embodiment of node 14, EMS 124 may controloperation of WBU 54 to establish a light-trail on a specified wavelengthon a particular fiber 16 or 18 in response to a setup message receivedfrom a convener node 14 a. In particular, if node 14 represents a nodeon the interior of the requested light-trail, EMS 124 may configure WBU54 to allow optical signals propagating at the specified wavelength onthe relevant fiber to pass through WBU 54. If node 14 represents a node14 at the beginning or end of a light-trail, EMS 124 may configure WBU54 to block optical signals propagating at the specified wavelength onthe relevant fiber. In this way, traffic transmitted by a node in alight-trail does not leave the light-trail. Because of this, multiplenon-overlapping light-trails may be formed using the same wavelength inthe same fiber.

In particular embodiments, however, WBUs 54 may be omitted from thenode. In such embodiments, the node will be unable to block thetransmission of traffic through the node (since there would be nothingto terminate any of the wavelengths of the copy of the optical signalforwarded from couplers 60 a). Therefore, in such embodiments, multiplelight-trails may not be formed in the same wavelength. However, in manynetwork topologies, such as ring networks, at least one such node (orsome other device in the network) must be able to stop the propagationof optical signals added from the nodes around the network to preventinterference. As an example, otherwise traffic being added in aparticular wavelength at a node will propagate around the network andreturn to the adding node, where it will interfere with new trafficbeing added in that wavelength. Therefore, particular embodiments mayinclude one or more nodes that include a WBU (such as nodes 14) and oneor more other nodes that do not include a WBU. If multiple nodes thatinclude a WBU are used in such embodiments, it may be possible to createmultiple light-trails in a single wavelength; however, the locations ofthese light-trails would be limited according to the number andplacement of the nodes including the WBUs.

Returning to the operation of the illustrated node 14, each coupler 60 bmay subsequently combine the output of the associated WBU 54 with thetraffic received from an associated combiner 84. After coupler 60 b addslocally-derived traffic to the output of WBU 54, coupler 60 b forwardsthe combined signal to the associated amplifier 64 and OSC egress filter66 b. Each OSC egress filter 66 b adds an OSC signal from the associatedOSC transmitter 116 to the combined optical signal and forwards the newcombined signal as an egress transport signal to the associated fiber 16or 18 of optical network 10.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a particular embodiment of aburstponder 150 that may be utilized in an optical network implementinglight-trails. As described above, burstponder 150 (in association withswitching element 160) converts bursty or time-interleaved opticaltraffic received from nodes in one or more light-trails to seamless andcontinuous data traffic for delivery to client devices of the with whichit is associated. Furthermore, burstponder 150 converts data trafficreceived from client devices of the associated node to optical trafficfor transmission on the light-trail when the associated node has use ofthe light-trail. This allows the node to time share a light-trail whilecreating an impression to client devices of the node that the wavelengthis available on a seamless and continuous basis.

Burstponder 150 may be coupled to or integrated with switching element160 (as discussed below). Switching element 160 may represent anyappropriate component or components for transmitting data traffic outputby burstponder 150 to appropriate client devices and for transmittingdata traffic received from client devices to burstponder 150. In theillustrated embodiment, switching element 160 comprises an L2 switch.Switching element 160 includes a uplink/network port 162 through whichit communicates with burstponder 150 and multiple client ports 164through which it communicates with client devices.

As illustrated in FIG. 2, burstponder 150 may include any appropriatenumber of receivers 102 operable to receive optical signals and generateelectrical signals based on these optical signals and transmitters 104operable to receive electrical signals and to transmit optical signalsbased on these electrical signals. Each of these receivers 102 andtransmitters 104 is a burst-mode receiver or transmitter. Suchburst-mode receivers may have burst mode clock and data recoveryoperation. A burst mode transmitter 104 is used since data cannot betransmitted continuously from a node, but may only be transmitted atparticular moments (such as particular time slots) when the associatednode has the use of a light-trail. Burst mode optics in each transmitter104 allow for the laser of each transmitter 104 to be turned on and offquickly to facilitate such bursty transmissions. Similarly, a burst modereceiver 102 is used since data or other signals are not continuouslyreceived from the light-trail and thus the receiver 102 must be ready toreceive data when it is available. Burst mode optics in the receiverallow for fast gain adjustment, which enables a shorter guard time (timewhen no data is able to be transmitted on the light-trail).

Burstponder 150 also includes a processing and control module 152 andassociated memory 154. Module 152 may be any suitable type of processingdevice or devices programmed to perform the functions described herein(or any other suitable functions) and memory 154 may be any suitabletype of data storage device. Module 152, among other functions, mayperform packet/frame processing and queuing, optical payload assemblyand disassembly, and traffic control functions. For example, Ethernetframes or data traffic in any other suitable format (for example, ATM,Frame Relay, or Fiber Channel formats) is received from client devicesvia switching element 160 and is buffered and assembled into an opticalpayload. The traffic is then queued (for example, in a buffer in memory154) until the node with which burstponder 150 is associated has the useof the light-trail over which the traffic is to be transmitted. Module152 may receive control messages identifying the light-trails in whichthe associated node is included and may determine the light-trail overwhich incoming traffic is to be sent based on the address information inthe incoming client traffic from switch 160. Each light-trail may have abuffer associated with it or multiple light-trails may share a buffer.When a time slot for transmission in a light-trail is assigned via acontrol protocol, the burst mode laser of the transmitter 104 associatedwith the appropriate light-trail is turned on and the optical payload istransmitted onto the network. At the end of the assigned time slot, thelaser is turned off and incoming data to be transmitted on thatlight-trail is accumulated in the buffer until the next assigned timeslot. For traffic received by a node from a light-trail, an associatedburst mode receiver 102 converts the received optical payload into anelectrical signal. The Ethernet frames (or other traffic format) of theelectrical signal are disassembled from the optical payload by module152 and are sent to switching element 160 for delivery to an appropriatedestination client device(s). In addition to the functions describedabove, module 152 may also perform other types of packet processing incertain embodiments, such as Class of Service (CoS) classification andqueuing, filtering, and any other suitable type of processing.Furthermore, module 152 may report the status of the traffic queues(full, empty, etc.) to a bandwidth controller to assist in dynamicbandwidth (for example, time slot) allocation in the light-trail(s)associated with the node.

Traffic may be communicated between burstponder 150 and switchingelement 160 using any suitable technique. In the illustrated embodiment,one or more optical transmitters 156 and receivers 158 are used tocommunicate traffic optically between burstponder 150 and switchingelement 160. As an example only, transmitter(s) 156 and receiver(s) 158may be Small Form-factor Pluggable (SFP) optical components. Datatraffic is received from module 152 at transmitter 156 and is convertedto optical traffic for communication to uplink/network port 162 ofswitching element 160. In this case, port 162 includes an opticalreceiver or other suitable components to convert the received opticaltraffic back to data traffic for communication to one or more clientports 164. Similarly, in the illustrated embodiment, data traffic fromclient devices is communicated from client ports 164 to uplink/networkport 162, where the traffic is converted to optical traffic. Thisoptical traffic is then communicated to and received by receiver 158,which converts the optical traffic back to data traffic and communicatesthis data traffic to module 152 for processing.

An optical interface between burstponder 150 and switching element 160allows for burstponder 150 and switching element 160 to be separated bya much greater distance than an electrical interface allows (forexample, an electrical interface at 1 Gb/s to 10 Gb/s is limited to afew meters, while an optical interfaces allows switching element 160 andburstponder 150 to be a few kilometers apart). However, in situationswhere burstponder 150 and switching element 160 are closely positioned,optical transmitter 156 and receiver 158 may be replaced by anelectrical input/output interface (and similar changes may be made touplink/network port 162). In such a case, noelectrical-optical-electrical conversion is needed when communicatingtraffic between burstponder 150 and switching element 160.

Moreover, although burstponder 150 and switching element 160 are shownas discrete devices (for example, cards), they may be integrated into asingle device. When so integrated, burstponder 150 and switching element160 may share resources such as memory and a processor/controller (andassociated functionality). Switching element 160 may be modified toperform as a burstponder by modifying the switch interfaces to supportburst mode optics and providing buffers for optical payload assembly anddisassembly. Furthermore, control functionality may be added to turn thelasers associated with the burst mode optics on and off during anassigned time slot. Such an integrated burstponder/switching element mayeither be part of a node 14 (for example, as a line card in a WDMplatform) or external to a node 14 (for example, a part of a switchcard).

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating an example optical payload formatthat may used by a burstponder 150 in accordance with one embodiment ofthe present invention. As described below in conjunction with FIGS. 6Aand 6B, the data channel associated with a light-trail may be dividedinto a number of time slots. Each of these time slots may be used tocommunicate traffic in the light-trail from a particular node 14included in the light-trail. As illustrated in the embodiment of FIG. 4,each time slot 200 includes a slot length 202 (length of time). Withinthis slot length 202, an optical payload may be inserted by aburstponder 150 of a node 14 for transmission on a light-trail. In theillustrated example, this payload includes an optical preamble 204, oneor more data frames 206 which are each separated by an inter-packet gap208, and a pad 210. The optical preamble 204 is included to allow aburst mode receiver that receives the data in a time slot 200 toproperly adjust its gain and to perform clock recovery (for example,using a clock and data recovery functionality) to be able to receive thedata in the time slot 200. Data frames 206 include the traffic receivedfrom the client device(s) of a node 14 for transmission on alight-trail(s). Data frames 206 may be Ethernet frames or data in anyother suitable format. The inter-packet gaps 208 are optional. Thethroughput of the network may be improved if there are no inter-packetgaps 208; however, the burstponder 150 may need to add these gaps beforesending the data frames 206 to the switching element 160. Finally, pad210 may be optionally added to fill any remaining space in time slot 200after adding preamble 204, data frames 206, and gaps 208.

FIGS. 5A-5C illustrate example operation of nodes of an optical networkin establishing a light-trail 330 (shown in FIG. 5C). In particular,FIGS. 5A-5C illustrate an example operation of a particular embodimentof an optical network as a particular node 314 attempts to establish alight-trail 330 in response to receiving data traffic from a clientdevice of that node 314. Nodes 314 and fibers 316 and 318 shown in FIGS.5A-5C may represent a complete optical network or may represent aportion of a larger optical network, such as optical network 10 shown inFIG. 1. Furthermore, although shown as being coupled in a linear manner,nodes 314 may be coupled in a ring, a mesh, or in any other suitablefashion. For example, nodes 314 a-f may represent nodes 14 a-f ofnetwork 10 of FIG. 1. Moreover, nodes 314 may have any suitable design.As an example only, nodes 314 may be implemented using the configurationillustrated in FIG. 2 or any other appropriate configuration.

FIG. 5A illustrates an example operation of an optical network as node314 a (referred to below as “convener node 314 a”) receives data traffic310 from a client device coupled to convener node 314 a. To transmitoptical traffic based on the data traffic, convener node 314 adetermines that a light-trail 330 should be established between convenernode 314 a and node 314 e (referred to below as “end node 314 e”) alongfiber 16. As indicated above, convener node 314 a may decide toestablish light-trail 330 in response to determining that the amount ofoptical traffic flowing on other light-trails that couple convener node314 a and end node 314 e exceeds a predetermined threshold.Alternatively, any other node or device may initiate the establishmentof light-trail 330 for any suitable purpose.

Convener node 314 a may establish light-trail 330 by sending one or morecontrol messages to end node 314 e and/or other nodes 314 on the OSC orother control channel. As used herein, a “message” may represent one ormore signal pulses, packets, or frames, or information structured in anyother suitable format. For example, in a particular embodiment, convenernode 314 a transmits a setup message 340 to end node 314 e and to allnodes 314 b-d between this particular convener node 314 a and end node314 e in the direction of traffic. These nodes between the convener nodeand end node that are to be included in the light-trail may be referredto as “intervening nodes” (it should be noted, however, that not everynode between the convener node and end node need be included in alight-trail). Depending on the configuration of the optical network,convener node 314 a may transmit setup message 340 on the OSC in thesame direction as optical traffic is flowing on fiber 316, in theopposite direction (for example, the OSC on fiber 318), or in bothdirections (for example, the OSC on both fibers 16 and 18). In theillustrated example, the OSC is assumed to represent a separatewavelength from the wavelengths used to transmit data on fiber 316, andconvener node 314 a transmits setup message 340 on fiber 316 in thedirection traffic is propagating on fiber 316.

Setup message 340 may identify convener node 314 a and end node 314 e,specify the direction and wavelength to be used for transmissions onlight-trail 330, and/or include any other appropriate information to beused by intervening nodes 314 b-d and end node 314 e to establishlight-trail 330. Intervening nodes 314 b-d may store setup message 340until receiving an appropriate indication from end node 314 e, such asan acknowledgement message, that end node 314 e is prepared to establishlight-trail 330.

FIG. 5B illustrates an example operation of the optical network afterend node 314 e receives setup message 340. End node 314 e, in responseto receiving setup message 340, may reconfigure a wavelength blockingunit of end node 314 e to prevent traffic propagating at the wavelengthassociated with the requested light-trail 330 from continuing past endnode 314 e on fiber 316. End node 314 e transmits an acknowledgementmessage 350 to convener node 314 a and/or intervening nodes 314 b-d onceend node 314 e has configured the wavelength blocking unit or at anyother appropriate time after receiving setup message 340.Acknowledgement message 350 indicates to nodes 314 receiving theacknowledgment message that end node 314 e is ready to establishlight-trail 330. Convener node 314 a and/or intervening nodes 314 b-dmay configure themselves in any appropriate manner to facilitateestablishment of the light-trail, in response to receiving theacknowledgement message 350 or another appropriate form of indicationfrom end node 314 e. For example, intervening nodes 314 b-d may eachreconfigure a wavelength blocking unit of each node 314 to allow thewavelength associated with light-trail 330 to pass through thatparticular node 314. Additionally, convener node 314 a may configure awavelength blocking unit of convener node 314 a to block trafficpropagating on fiber 316 at the wavelength, as described above withrespect to FIG. 2. By blocking traffic propagating on fiber 316 at thewavelength associated with light-trail 330, convener node 314 a mayallow other light-trails that do not overlap with light-trail 330 toutilize the same wavelength as light-trail 330 without interfering withtraffic transmitted on light-trail 330.

Additionally, each node 314 may maintain a light-trail table or matrixthat maintains information regarding light-trails established on opticalnetwork 10 or light-trails to which that node 314 is coupled. Theselight-trail tables may include any appropriate information for therelevant light-trails. For example, light-trail tables may includeinformation specifying the convener node and end node of eachlight-trail, the wavelength associated with each light-trail, whethereach light-trail is currently being used, and/or any other suitableinformation about each light-trail.

FIG. 5C illustrates a state of optical network 10 after node 314 areceives acknowledgement message 350 and performs any appropriatereconfiguration. As a result of the reconfiguration of convener node 314a, intervening nodes 314 b-d and end node 314 e, light-trail 330 isformed which couples convener node 314 a to each intervening node 314b-d and to end node 314 e. Once light-trail 330 is established, convenernode 314 a and/or intervening nodes 314 b-d may utilize light-trail 330for transmissions to downstream intervening nodes 314 b-d or to end node314 e. Example operation of nodes in transmitting optical traffic on anestablished light-trail is described below with respect to FIGS. 6A and6B.

FIGS. 6A and 6B illustrate the use of time slots of a light-trail toshare the light-trail between the nodes included in the light-trail. Asillustrated, the data channel/wavelength at which a light-trail isestablished (λ_(LT)) may be divided into a plurality of time slots 410or 420 to allow sharing of the light-trail between the nodes included inthe light-trail. Unlike a structured time division multiplexed (TDM)system, these time slots are not frames or cells that include structuresuch as headers and other control information. They may simply be aspecified duration of time on the data channel that is assigned todifferent nodes in the light-trail. Furthermore, there may be a gap orpad 430 between each time slot 410 or 420.

The duration of each time slot in a data channel of a light-trail may beequal or may vary. For example, FIG. 6A illustrates an example “roundrobin” technique for allocating use of a light-trail in which the timeslots 410 associated with each node in the light-trail are equal. Theexample time slots 410 may be associated, as an example, withlight-trail 330 of FIG. 5C that includes nodes 314 a-e. In that case,any of nodes 314 a-d may transmit data on light-trail 314 (node 314 e,as the end node, does not transmit data on the light-trail). Therefore,each node 314 a-d may be assigned associated time slots 410 in which thenodes 314 may transmit data. In the illustrated example, node 314 a isassigned time slots 410 a (identified with an “A”), node 314 b isassigned time slots 410 b (identified with a “B”), node 314 c isassigned time slots 410 c (identified with a “C”), and node 314 d isassigned time slots 410 d (identified with an “D”). The size of thesetime slots 410 are equal, such that each node is able to transmit thesame amount of traffic on the light-trail. Since each of the nodes mayreceive data to be transmitted in different amounts and at differentrates, each node may buffer traffic to be transmitted accordingly.

However, certain nodes have a need to transmit data at a higher ratethan is provided by the associated time slots 410 in this “round robin”system, while other nodes in the light-trail may not need thebandwidth/capacity provided by the associated time slots 410. To addressthis issue, a “weighted round robin” technique may be used, asillustrated in FIG. 6B. The duration of the time slots 420 associatedwith each node may be different. In other words, the length of the timeslots may be weighted such that certain nodes are allocated more of thebandwidth of the light-trail in which to transmit than other nodes.Again, the example time slots 420 may be associated, as an example, withlight-trail 330 of FIG. 5C that includes nodes 314 a-e. In theillustrated example, node 314 a is assigned time slots 420 a (identifiedwith an “A”) that are longer in duration that the time slots 420associated with the other nodes, node 314 b is assigned time slots 420 b(identified with a “B”) and node 314 d is assigned time slots 420 d(identified with an “D”) which are the same size and which are smallerthan slots 420 a, and node 314 c is assigned time slots 420 c(identified with a “C”) which are smaller than slots 420 a-c. In thismanner, nodes on the light-trail that have higher bandwidth requirementsmay be given more capacity to transmit. In other embodiments, this sameresult may be accomplished using equally sized time slots, butallocating more time slots to certain nodes than to other nodes.

The duration of slots 410 or 420 may be configured via NMS 126 when thenetwork is initially configured (and may be changed as needed), when alight-trail is established, or at any other appropriate time. Inparticular embodiments, the duration of slots 410 or 420 is communicatedfrom NMS 126 or another appropriate component to the end node of alight-trail when the light-trail is being established. The end nodesends control messages to the other nodes in the light-trail indicatingthe duration and positioning of the time slots associated with eachnode. Although particular example techniques for configuring and usingtime slots are described herein, it should be understood that any othersuitable techniques may be used.

Although the present invention has been described with severalembodiments, various changes and modifications may be suggested to oneskilled in the art. It is intended that the present invention encompasssuch changes and modifications as fall within the scope of the appendedclaims.

1. An optical network operable to carry optical traffic in a pluralityof multiplexed wavelengths between a plurality of nodes, the opticalnetwork comprising: at least one light-trail established in the opticalnetwork between a subset of the plurality of nodes, wherein thelight-trail couples the subset of nodes and is associated with one ofthe plurality of wavelengths; an out-of-band control channel associatedwith a different wavelength than the wavelength associated with the atleast one light-trail, the control channel being used to communicate oneor more control messages to establish the light-trail and to allocateuse of the light-trail by the subset of nodes; and wherein each of thesubset of nodes comprises a burstponder operable to: receive datatraffic from one or more client devices of the associated node to becommunicated over the light-trail; buffer the received data traffic andassemble the data traffic into an optical payload; and transmit theoptical payload over the light-trail as optical traffic using a burstmode transmitter during a time period in which the associated node isallocated use of the light-trail.
 2. The optical network of claim 1,wherein the burstponder is further operable to: receive optical trafficfrom the light-trail using a burst mode receiver and convert the opticaltraffic to data traffic; disassemble the data traffic to retrieve one ormore data frames; and communicate the data frames to one or more of theclient devices of the associated node.
 3. The optical network of claim1, wherein each of the subset of nodes has an associated switchingelement operable to communicate traffic between the burstponder and theclient devices.
 4. The optical network of claim 3, wherein theburstponder is integrated with the switching element.
 5. The opticalnetwork of claim 3, wherein the burstponder and the switching elementare separate devices.
 6. The optical network of claim 1, wherein theoptical payload includes a plurality of data frames received from theclient devices as data traffic.
 7. The optical network of claim 6,wherein the optical payload further comprises an optical preamble. 8.The optical network of claim 1, wherein the burstponder in each of thesubset of nodes is further operable to perform Class of Service (CoS)classification and queuing for the received data traffic.
 9. The opticalnetwork of claim 1, wherein the time period in which a node is allocateduse of the light-trail is one or a plurality of recurring time slotsallocated to the node.
 10. A method for transmitting traffic in anoptical network, the optical network operable to carry optical trafficin a plurality of multiplexed wavelengths between a plurality of nodes,the method comprising: establishing at least one light-trail in theoptical network between a subset of the plurality of nodes, wherein thelight-trail couples the subset of nodes and is associated with one ofthe plurality of wavelengths, wherein establishing the light-trailcomprises transmitting one or more control messages on an out-of-bandcontrol channel that is associated with a different wavelength than thewavelength associated with the light-trail; and at a burstponder in eachof the subset of nodes: receiving data traffic from one or more clientdevices of the associated node to be communicated over the light-trail;buffering the received data traffic and assembling the data traffic intoan optical payload; and transmitting the optical payload over thelight-trail as optical traffic using a burst mode transmitter during atime period in which the associated node is allocated use of thelight-trail.
 11. The method of claim 10, further comprising, at theburstponder in each of the subset of nodes: receiving optical trafficfrom the light-trail using a burst mode receiver and convert the opticaltraffic to data traffic; disassembling the data traffic to retrieve oneor more data frames; and communicating the data frames to one or more ofthe client devices of the associated node.
 12. The method of claim 10,further comprising communicating traffic between the burstponder and theclient devices using a switching element.
 13. The method of claim 12,wherein the burstponder is integrated with the switching element. 14.The method of claim 12, wherein the burstponder and the switchingelement are separate devices.
 15. The method of claim 10, wherein theoptical payload includes a plurality of data frames received from theclient devices as data traffic.
 16. The method of claim 15, wherein theoptical payload further comprises an optical preamble.
 17. The method ofclaim 10, further comprising, at the burstponder in each of the subsetof nodes, performing Class of Service (CoS) classification and queuingfor the received data traffic.
 18. The method of claim 10, wherein thetime period in which a node is allocated use of the light-trail is oneor a plurality of recurring time slots allocated to the node.
 19. Anoptical node operable to transmit and receive optical traffic in anoptical network, the optical network including a plurality of opticalnodes and at least one light-trail established between a subset of theplurality of optical nodes, wherein the light-trail couples the subsetof nodes and is associated with one of a plurality of multiplexedwavelengths used to transport the optical traffic in the opticalnetwork, the optical node comprising: one or more components operable totransmit and receive control messages on an out-of-band control channelassociated with a different wavelength than the wavelength associatedwith the at least one light-trail, the control channel being used tocommunicate the control messages to establish the light-trail and toallocate use of the light-trail by the optical node; a burstponderoperable to: receive data traffic from one or more client devices of theoptical node to be communicated over the light-trail; buffer thereceived data traffic and assemble the data traffic into an opticalpayload; and transmit the optical payload over the light-trail asoptical traffic using a burst mode transmitter during a time period inwhich the optical node is allocated use of the light-trail.
 20. Theoptical node of claim 19, wherein the burstponder is further operableto: receive optical traffic from the light-trail using a burst modereceiver and convert the optical traffic to data traffic; disassemblethe data traffic to retrieve one or more data frames; and communicatethe data frames to one or more of the client devices.
 21. The opticalnode of claim 19, further comprising an associated switching elementoperable to communicate traffic between the burstponder and the clientdevices.
 22. The optical node of claim 21, wherein the burstponder isintegrated with the switching element.
 23. The optical node of claim 21,wherein the burstponder and the switching element are separate devices.24. The optical node of claim 19, wherein the optical payload includes aplurality of data frames received from the client devices as datatraffic.
 25. The optical node of claim 24, wherein the optical payloadfurther comprises an optical preamble.
 26. The optical node of claim 19,wherein the burstponder is further operable to perform Class of Service(CoS) classification and queuing for the received data traffic.
 27. Theoptical node of claim 19, wherein the time period in which the opticalnode is allocated use of the light-trail is one or a plurality ofrecurring time slots allocated to the optical node.